Saturday, 24 July 2010

Ask Lonely Planet: Getting a taste of real life in Cambodia


via Khmer NZ

Saturday Jul 24, 2010

Banteay Srei near Siem Reap. Photo / Jim Eagles

My fiancee and I are heading to Siem Reap next month for our honeymoon. While the temples are an obvious attraction, we'd like some advice about getting out and about in everyday Cambodian villages to see real life. More specifically, we'd like to spend some time investigating the impact of land mines on people in the area. We don't want to turn people's suffering into some selfish tourist attraction but, if there is some place we could go and see the continuing efforts to clear away this plague and return some semblance of safety to the countryside, we'd be very interested.
- Matt Hollinshead

Tashi Wheeler, a former commissioning editor with Lonely Planet, writes:
Siem Reap is a gorgeous town to spend time in, but sight-wise it really is all about Angkor Wat. Heading out in a boat to some of the further-flung temples such as Banteay Srei and the river of a thousand lingas at Kbal Spean will take you out of Siem Reap. Although there isn't much in the way of village life around there.

You can't exactly watch land mine clearing in action but, if you are interested in the impact of land mines, you should definitely check out the Cambodian Land Mine Museum. It was established by a former Khmer Rouge child soldier turned DIY de-miner, Aki Ra.

It has informative displays on the curse of land mines in Cambodia and includes an extensive collection of mines, mortars, guns and weaponry used during the civil war in Cambodia.

Not only a weapon of war, land mines are a weapon against peace and proceeds from the museum are ploughed into mine awareness campaigns and support an onsite orphanage, rehabilitation centre and training facility.

Visiting the floating village of Chong Kneas, which is a bit of a tourist trap but still very scenic, can be a nice escape from Siem Reap and a good break from the temples.

Further afield, about two hours from Siem Reap, and more memorable than Chong Kneas, is the village of Kompng Phhluk. It's an other-worldly place built on soaring stilts. The village is a friendly place, where most of the houses are built on stilts of about 6m or 7m high, almost like bamboo skyscrapers. Check out the Lonely Planet Cambodia guidebook for more information on the villages and how to get to them.

The winning question this week is from Matt Hollinshead, who receives a copy of Lonely Planet China ($69.99).

Travelling by rail

I'm planning a backpacking tour with a friend of mine around Europe for six weeks, visiting Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Marseilles or Nice, Munich, Rome, Naples (for Pompeii), Pisa, Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, possibly Rotterdam, London and back to Paris. We are wanting to travel by rail, but are a little stumped by the multitude of rail passes available and what would be best for this. We are both 22 and are planning on travelling using 2nd class youth tickets. What would be the best rail pass(es) to buy to suit this trip?
- Mathieu Wilson

Former Lonely Planet commissioning editor Tashi Wheeler writes:

Think carefully about purchasing a rail pass. In particular, prices for the multitude of Eurail passes have been going up much faster than inflation. They are pricey. Spend a little time online on the national railways sites and determine what it would cost to do your trip by buying the tickets separately. More often than not, you'll find that you spend less than if you buy a Eurail pass.

You have a lot of destinations, about 17, you want to get to and not that much time with only six weeks to spend doing it. This gives you about 2.5 days per destination and this isn't taking into account travel time on the trains or anything else that happens along the way.

Most of the Eurail passes only allow 10 to 15 days of travel within a one- to three-month period and Eurail doesn't cover the UK.

Out of all the Eurail passes, I would recommend the Eurail Youth Flexi pass. It's for those under 26 and for 2nd-class travel only: 10/15 days travel in two months for about $720-$940. Two to five people travelling together can get a saver version of Eurail passes, cutting about 15 per cent off.

Win a Lonely Planet guide book

Get the information you need to make your big trip a success. Email your travel questions to travel.info@lonelyplanet.com and they'll be answered by Lonely Planet's experts. In addition the best question each week will earn a Lonely Planet guide book. To give yourself a chance to win, add your postal address and the guide book you'd like to receive. You can find out about Lonely Planet books at LonelyPlanet.com. Not all questions are necessarily answered and Lonely Planet cannot correspond directly with readers, or give advice outside the column.

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Opening up the appearance by Tim Nicol

"The original bathroom not only had a curtain covering the window – there was also a shower curtain in front that completely blocked any chance of a view," stated architect Tim Nicol of the previous existing bathroom that block the outdoor spectacular sea background.

Per request, Nicol had to open up the place for outside seaside view. To do so, a bathtub was replaced the shower in front of a contemporary windows, whereas the shower was repositioned to the former toilet room, as provided by notable furniture in Cambodia construction materials.

"We also altered the ceiling to better express the gable above the window," says Nicol. "The original ceiling was vaulted, but it flattened out above the window. The new hipped ceiling is a feature repeated in the shower room."

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Analyst: Beautiful iPhone 6’s Sales May Fail to Live up to Expectations


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His reasoning is that last year Apple launched two new iPhones, the 5S and 5C, and immediately took the previous model off sale. Between them, the two new models sold nine million units in three days.
Despite the fact that Apple is likely to sell 6.5m units of iPhone 6 in its first three days on the shelves – more than the 5.4m 5S phones sold in the same period last year, Munster believes the sales will drastically go down on the combined figures for both new phones.

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The Modern Street Facade


This is the amazing house has been designed for relaxation from the busy lifetime to have a great vacation, according to furniture shop in Cambodia
construction materials stated.
Leading to the architects stated, “The street facade has been left to demonstrate the clients’ respect for the evolution of the character of the area and the modest street alteration belies the extent of the comprehensive internal renovation work.
The spaces within the original structure are largely white in color, united by exotic floral hallway carpet.
This journey through the space is followed by encountering a disintegrated red-colored ‘box’. This is the kitchen, at the heart of the property, which acts as a bridge linking the major spaces.
A cloud-shaped extrusion is the unexpected final space”. In addition, the living room design of this house is just amazing; it creates a dramatic interior language and a highly original space for various social events.